Sochi commemorates Poles who perished in air crash

The Rome-Catholic Church in Sochi held, at plenty of parishioners present, a requiem service on the Poles who perished in the air crash near Smolensk. Members of the Polish Diaspora in Sochi plan to start a book of condolences, to be sent later to the Embassy of the Polish Republic in Russia.

Let us remind that on April 10 near Smolensk the Polish Tu-154 aircraft had a flight accident, having, under the latest data of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of Russia, 97 persons onboard, including 88 members of the Polish delegation - supreme political and military country's leaders, members of the government and MPs.

On Saturday, April 10, after it became known about the air crash near Smolensk, many parishioners of St Thadeus and St Simon community of the Roman-Catholic Church began calling and coming to the cathedral.

"On Saturday, our parishioners began calling Father Irenaeus, because they know that Father is from Poland," Sister Elena told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "In our parish, churchmen-Poles have been working for many years. I can state that the whole parish was in grief; and everyone expressed his or her sympathy and condolences," she has added.

Father Irenaeus grieved together with all his flock. The air crash killed not only his compatriots, but also a person whom he personally knew.

"I felt very bad at that moment, but my parishioners helped me," Father Irenaeus told the correspondent. "This support that we now see is very important for me as a Pole; and I want to thank everybody for it. I think that after this tragedy we - Russians and Poles - will become closer."

Let us note here that in Sochi, according to the data of the last census, about 400 Poles live. Quite recently, they formed their national community "Polonia".

Anna Mutovina, chair of this community, said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent: "What was most pleasant and important for us that Slavic and other national societies of the city, just like ordinary Sochi residents, called and supported us and the Polish Republic."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili awarded the title of national hero to Lech Kaczynski, tragically perished President of Poland, who supported Georgia during war in August 2008.